Shane Miller's bunker found in Whitmore; no sign of triple-murder suspect

Shasta County sheriff's deputies on Friday searched an underground bunker on a Whitmore property belonging to a 45-year-old man accused in the shooting deaths of his wife and two daughters in early May at the family's Shingletown home.

But, investigators have yet to find Shane Franklyn Miller in the almost two months since the killings of his wife, 34-year-old Sandy, and daughters Shelby, 8, and Shasta, 5.

Sheriff's Sgt. Brian Jackson said investigators since the May 7 killings have received tips that Miller was hiding in a bunker on one of his properties in Whitmore. He owns a two-bedroom house on Honeybear Lane in Whitmore and two vacant properties on Morelli Road in the Whitmore area, according to the Shasta County assessor-recorder's office.

"On (Friday) detectives received credible information that there was in a fact a bunker on one of the properties in Whitmore," Jackson said. "The initial report was that there were vent pipes found coming out of the ground that had been concealed by wood and debris."

The sheriff's office, along with Redding police, deputies from Tehama and Butte counties, Department of Fish and Wildlife wardens and a CHP helicopter, at about 6 p.m. Friday served a warrant on the properties.

"The properties totaled approximately 55 acres which were covered in manzanita, trees, shrubs, residences and numerous outbuildings," Jackson said.

Search teams found the prefabricated bunker, but no sign of Miller, Jackson said. Inside the bunker deputies found a "large cache of weapons and ammunition," including various types of rifles, shotguns and handguns.

Jackson said deputies aren't releasing the exact make and model of the weapons, nor where on Miller's properties the bunker was found.

"There was no indication found during the search that Shane Miller was or has been on the properties since the homicides," he said.

The night of the murders Miller allegedly shot his wife and daughters multiple times before grabbing the family dachshund and heading to a remote area of Humboldt County where he grew up.

According to the crime reports, Miller had threatened to kill his wife and the girls before, and he finally carried out the murders on the day Sandy Miller planned to tell him she wanted a place of her own so she and her daughters could escape from the domestic violence.

Sandy Miller sought to escape from her husband through the former Shasta Women's Refuge about two weeks before she and her daughters were killed, officials with that agency have said.

A memorial for Sandy Miller and her daughters was held Wednesday in Shingletown.

It's believed Miller, who is described as armed and extremely dangerous, is hiding in the densely forested area near Petrolia in Humboldt County.

Deputies in Humboldt County, along with local officers, spent weeks searching the remote wilderness, with no sign of Miller beyond his truck and a family dog.

Miller's family has said he has survivalist skills and may have food, as well as weapons, buried or hidden in the area.

A reward of up to $10,000 is being offered by Shasta County Secret Witness for information leading to his arrest and conviction.

Anyone with information on Miller can call Shasta County sheriff's detectives at 530-245-6025 or 530-243-2319 to leave an anonymous tip with Secret Witness.

Humboldt County community members are encouraged to call the Humboldt County Sheriff's Office at 707-445-7251 or the tip line at 707-268-2539 if they see anything suspicious or 911, in the event of an emergency.